Let's take a look at how the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers did in their three-way trade Thursday. Here's a breakdown of the deal:
Bucks get: Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee.
Suns get: Brandon Knight, Kendall Marshall
76ers get: The Lakers' top-five protected pick.
Milwaukee Bucks: B-plus
While trading Knight is a shocker to many Bucks fans, the move is defensible even in a vacuum. When you look at the actual deal in terms of the assets the Bucks got in return, it was a nice bit of dealing. There might be a short-term hit, but they are better positioned in the big picture.
The story of this trade began back in October, when Milwaukee failed to reach an agreement with Knight on a rookie extension. Knight was a well-liked player both in the organization and in the locker room, and might have been the hardest worker of all the Bucks. This season, Knight developed into a borderline All-Star. He was leading the Bucks with 17.8 points and 5.4 assists per game and ranked 27th in the league with 6.4 WARP at the All-Star break. He has become one of the most dangerous shooters in the league, a direct byproduct of his habit of shooting after practice until they turn out the lights.
Nevertheless, Knight presented a quandary for a team that has been very clear the pillars of its rebuilding plan are young forwards Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. Parker, lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL, should eventually turn into a front-line scorer who will require a heavy dose of touches in the halfcourt. Antetokounmpo is improving rapidly and shows potential as both a penetrating scorer and a distributor.
Knight's point guard play has gotten a lot better, and he has said his focus is to continue to make strides as a playmaker. But he's still a natural scorer, who like many guards in today's game has a tweener skill set in a point guard body. So if you're building around the forwards who will eventually command post-rookie deals well into eight figures annually, just how much do you want to pay Knight? Chances are, some team is going to take Knight into eight figures this summer, when he hits restricted free agency.
Yet you heard precious little about Knight being shopped before he was actually gone, which is a credit to the Bucks' ability to manage information. The ironic thing about getting Carter-Williams is that he and Knight would have made a terrific backcourt together -- Knight could guard 1s, and Carter-Williams 2s, and they do different things well on offense. Carter-Williams and Knight played almost exactly the same number of minutes last season and produced roughly the same value. Though Knight has two more years of experience, they are roughly the same age (23) -- Carter-Williams is about two months older.
Still, Carter-Williams has two more years of team control, meaning Milwaukee has plenty of time to keep costs down and add to its new young core. Carter-Williams' length on defense will be an immediate upgrade from Knight and will further bolster the league's second-ranked defensive unit. He and Khris Middleton should form one of the league's best defensive backcourts.
MCW has struggled on offense this season, and with Parker out, the Bucks don't have a whole lot in terms of offensive creators. Milwaukee relies on defensive pressure and transition points, factors that work in Carter-Williams' favor, but the Bucks still lack the kind of scorers who might help him return to a box-score-stuffing role to which he's better suited. More than one person on Twitter already pointed this out, but in Carter-Williams, the Bucks have added a player with a similar profile to their coach, Jason Kidd.
Ennis is a nice get as a playmaking backup. He barely played in the Suns' cramped backcourt, but averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 assists for Phoenix's D-League team in Bakersfield. He's a developmental player, but it's also possible he could get immediate time in Milwaukee because of Marshall's season-ending injury (also a torn ACL). The Bucks have been using former Nets player Jorge Gutierrez as their backup, and he's midway through his second 10-day contract. Ennis, if he develops, could be a nice part-time complement to Carter-Williams, a fellow Syracuse product.
The inclusion of Plumlee in the deal is what really puts this trade over the top for the Bucks. They reportedly have been on the verge of reaching a buyout agreement with troubled big man Larry Sanders. The acquisition of Plumlee gives them an immediate replacement. Plumlee has been a better percentage rebounder over the course of their careers, and while he's not as accomplished as a shot-blocker, he does provide some rim protection.
Plumlee struggled to get touches in Phoenix, but he is a more reliable finisher than Sanders, and can run the floor with the long athletes around him. He has one more year on his rookie deal after this one, giving the Bucks a full season to make up their minds.
Now Milwaukee has a strong, deep collection of quality prospects: Ennis, Carter-Williams, Middleton, John Henson, Plumlee, Antetokounmpo and Parker, and if the buyout with Sanders is completed, the Bucks will have an uncomplicated cap future. The probable short-term, offensive downgrade in losing Knight is the only thing keeping this move from being an A for Milwaukee.
Phoenix Suns: B-plus
We'll just focus on this aspect of the Suns' dealing, though general manager Ryan McDonough has been a busy guy. A parallel transaction to this deal saw the Suns deal Isaiah Thomas to Boston for Marcus Thornton and a draft pick, but we'll focus on the Plumlee-for-Knight aspect. It's not really fair, as Knight is easily the more valuable player, and all of the Suns' moves need to be examined relative to each other. They did give up the protected first-rounder acquired back in 2012 from the Lakers in the Steve Nash sign-and-trade, but they somewhat offset that in the Boston deal by getting a future Cleveland pick.
Plumlee wasn't having a great season for the Suns, and Alex Len has emerged as the long-term answer in the middle. Because the Suns were facing the fourth year of Plumlee's rookie deal next season and he was already becoming somewhat superfluous, he has been the topic of trade rumors all season. Of course, at no point did anyone foresee him bringing back a player like Knight.
The Suns essentially traded three point guards Thursday in Thomas, Ennis and Goran Dragic. Now the brand-new backcourt mix is Eric Bledsoe -- now the unchallenged kingpin of the Suns -- along with Knight, Thornton and Gerald Green. It's a more traditional mix, or at least it will be until Knight and Bledsoe start to share the backcourt for heavy minutes.
It can work. Bledsoe is a good enough defender to complement the average-defending Knight most of the time. And Knight is much better suited to spend time off the ball than was Dragic as a plus-40 percent 3-point shooter who is as good on catch-and-shoot looks as he is off the bounce. On the court, this should be a good pairing. However, given the number of players going to and leaving Phoenix, it'll take some time for coach Jeff Hornacek to sort out a new rotation.
The Suns also took on the contract of Marshall, whom they drafted in the first round in 2012, but he is expected to be waived.
We'll have to see how the Suns value Knight as he hits restricted free agency. One way to look at it is that Dragic and Thomas would have earned a combined $14.4 million had they remained with the Suns and Dragic didn't opt out. Knight should command eight figures, but it should be somewhat south of that. The Suns have another year to sort out Len's eventual extension, and the Morris twins are locked up to good-value deals. So if Knight works on the court, he should work fine on the balance sheet. It's hard to imagine the Suns finding a player this good, and this young, while cleaning up their clogged backcourt at the same time. But they did it.
Philadelphia 76ers: C-minus
The Sixers, as usual, made a lot of moves to bring in assets, and that all has to be judged together. However, our little slice here looks like this: They traded the reigning rookie of the year for a protected first-rounder. The Lakers seem to be headed for the top five of the draft, which means they'll keep their pick. But there's an outside chance the Sixers could end up with it, giving them yet another top-10 selection. More likely, they'll get the pick in 2016, when the protection will be for just the first three picks. (The Lakers can't be this bad again next year, can they?)
Look, picks are great. Asset collection is great. But Carter-Williams provided a lot of value for the Sixers in his 1½ seasons, and he did so while playing more of a scorer's role than he eventually will when he lands in the right situation. In other words, we don't know what kind of player he will become. We'll find out, but it won't be for the Sixers. And it might be some time before we find out what kind of player the Sixers land with their latest acquired pick. If the Lakers have a successful offseason, the Sixers may end with a pick below the No. 11 slot with which they nabbed Carter-Williams in 2013. But there's got to be more than this.